I was originally about to write a blog post about my dreams and goals. I was going to reflect on what I really truly genuinely wanted to do after college, and whether or not I felt happy in my degree program because that has been pressing on me more and more lately.
But, then I saw the news. I saw the executive orders and my eyes opened back to the world around me, and my viewpoint widened past what was immediate in my own life. My eyes focused onto the current state of our government, and then everything fell backwards. All of it came crashing down onto me like a massive, massive wave. Again, I noticed the implosions in my life and in the lives around me; I was not walking on sturdy ground.
How can one see this all and not feel afraid? The whitehouse.gov website spontaneously lost all of its pages on immigration, LGBT rights, civil rights, climate change, and healthcare. It’s been practically a week. One week. A single week. What happened? Should we not care about the hurt that so many minority communities are experiencing right now? When will enough be enough?
And the environment? Sure, I understand that our economy is important. The economy drives our nation, and with all of this new energy we could encourage so much growth, which would increase our GDP, and help our economy. And, if we improve our economy, that would help us all. I get that, I see the numbers.
But, that’s exactly it. I see the numbers. Climate data? What about those numbers? I don’t understand how we could ignore the data. What economy can survive in a dying environment? Is not many of our societal behaviors towards the various resources in our world projecting towards a Tragedy of the Commons? Don’t we need to change before the sinusoidal behaviors of nature become more sporadic, and then our environments become less suitable for our complex human societies, and then the need for change becomes forced? What about our grandchildren? What about their children? We can’t run on autopilot forever and assume it will all work out, believe me.
And then I see a post from my friend who goes to MIT, and how her sorority sister from Iran went home for winter break, and how she was recently denied access to her flight back to Boston, despite her student visa. How could this possibly be okay? She’s an active member of my friend’s sorority and a hardworking member of the MIT community. And beyond all of that, she’s a human being like you and I.
And then, there’s all of the language used surrounding immigrants from Latin America. All of last year, I had to listen to every statement made about Latin American immigrants. Actually, no. I have had to spend years now listening to this. Ever since I was very young, I would often have to listen to the offensive sentiments towards people from South and Central America, and the jokes, and the sentiments from classmates, from friend’s parents, from teachers, and even from people who were apparently friends of mine. And, there’s this pressing feeling of, well, what made my family special enough to apparently become a part of this nation? My parents’ were not educated or super-special in any way when they got here; it is arguably chance that gave my parents and older siblings citizenship. Chance.
As I heard my friend’s father two summers ago continuously demonize immigrants and argue against their safety, I softly reminded him of my family’s Colombian origins, and pointed out to him that there is very little, if anything, that explicitly separates my family from that of other immigrants. I watched him feel uncomfortable, I saw the emotion pour into him for a brief moment as he realized his words were denying the humanity of large swaths of people, and his words were even slightly chipping away at my own humanity. Then, I saw his heart harden again, and off he returned to his rant about immigrants. Every inhuman, hateful word denying the humanity in the other, and when you deny the humanity in others, you deny the humanity in yourself.
I just do not understand these sentiments, and I especially do not understand how these sentiments could make their way to the top of our nation’s government. I do not understand.
I do not understand.
Something needs to be done.
We all need to play our parts, and we cannot forget the progress we have made. We cannot forget. Whether it’s letters, or rallies, or protests, or writings, or discussions, or any of the many other ways we can influence our society, we cannot forget, and we cannot stay inactive and run on autopilot. Our societal systems are human systems, and the functions that influence these systems depend on the individuals within. We all play a role in defining the variables and changing the parameters of these systems. All of us. Every little act, every little sentiment, every idea, every move and every investment of time and energy changes not only the course of us ourselves as biological systems, but also our societal systems, even if it is ever so slightly. Every change, even if it is a small change, matters.
Because anyone who has ever seen a mustard seed is well aware that tiny things can become very large.